Post

IOs & IT Managers under Pressure to Create
Value

As
an IT worker, it’s tough to put out the routine fires, take on more workload,
keep pace with technology change, be expected to make service improvements and
while reducing costs and resources.

Cloud
computing now makes it possible for the business to bypass IT and directly buy
the services they want, when they need them, inexpensively and with reasonably
good quality.

CIOs
and IT Managers are under extreme pressure to create, deliver and demonstrate
business value like never before.

Create Value Faster with More Focus

Part
1 in this article will share some tools and techniques for continual
improvement that help get the results you need faster usingThe Domino Effect.
Stay tuned for Part 2 - Better planning withValue Canvastool and Part 3 - Improved management
control using aRegistertool.

In reviewing many support group blogs
over the past few years I’ve noticed a startling trend where IT service
managers and process owners are growing more frustrated and struggling to get the
outcomes and benefits promised from implementing better practices such asITIL (IT Infrastructure Library).

In
my opinion, Continual Service Improvement (CSI) is one of the ITIL processes
that is often overlooked and applies to all services and processes.
It helps improve the overall health of IT service management; continually
aligns your services with current and future business needs; and improves the
maturity of the enabling processes.

Many
organizations don’t have a designated CSI Manager. Maybe due to
size or perceived need/urgency “we
will get to CSI once the basic processes are up and running and stable”,
a good example ofCatch 22.

In
lieu of a dedicated Manager, I believe all Service Managers and Process Owners
need to play the CSI Manager role for their own area of
responsibility.

Improvement Process Best Practices that
Work

In
working with many mature and successful organizations over the years I’ve
observed a couple of their best practices related to continual improvement
which I’d like to share with you.

Organizations
empower their managers and impart them with a sense of urgency for
performing continual improvement.

Successful
managers use a very simple, fast and yet effective method of making
performance improvements which I call the Domino Effect.

A
domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect produced when one
event sets off a chain of similar events. Their continual improvement process
has five key components that are set up in a very specific order.
First they plan by working backwards from right to left (outcomes to
actions). Then they execute the plan by working forwards from left to
right (actions to outcomes). It’s just like setting up dominoes backwards
from the end-goal then pushing the first one forward to the tipping point and
watching everything fall in place.

5 Steps to Create Value

Develop a
strategy by defining the purpose, outcomes and benefits that are
important, this helps ensures you get buy-in, support and cooperation in
obtaining your wildly important goals.

Put some
controls in place using metrics and analytics that will guarantee your
success by tracking your progress using artifacts and evidence.

Next determine
what directly enables the outcomes and benefits, these are typically
categorized as people, process, technology and/or information needed to
realize your strategy.

Now assess the
enablers to determine what the challenges are going to be, these could be
in the form of issues, gaps, risks or even opportunities that must be
addressed.

Finally
develop and implement initiatives that directly address the challenges
identified in the previous step, solutions should be fit for the original
purpose.

During
execution the initiatives remove the challenges that prevent the enablers from
achieving the strategy while the controls ensure things keep on track.

Ontario Government Case Study

Case
in point, Jill was the program manager who successfully improved many IT
services for the Ontario Public Services (OPS) using the domino effect. The OPS
had recently merged many Ministry IT departments into fewer IT Clusters as part
of a streamlining effort. This presented significant challenges in
delivering quality IT services with the many changes that had taken place.

Jills’
team developed an Integrated Service Agreement Methodology (ISAM) that
significantly improved application/infrastructure support services by removing
challenges and increasing effectiveness of the Help Desk, 1stline and 2ndline support processes. Being part of
Jill’s team, here are the five steps we used:

We cataloged and classified critical customer groups, the services they used, where they were most vulnerable/risk, prioritized a road-map, then worked with each customer to identify their expectations (Strategy).

The selected services were then instrumented using dashboards, scorecards and metrics for service performance monitoring. A six month baseline was created for each service. Later, corrective actions were taken to reinforce improvements. (Controls)

We then decomposed individual services using a failure mode and effects analysis, we populated the results into a support model which identified the best help desk pattern to use, what knowledge records to create, which prescriptive actions for 1stline, 2ndline, 3rdline to take and what configuration records to create. (Enablers)

Then we closed all gaps by documenting service levels, roles & responsibilities, escalations, notifications, detection methods and performance measurements. These were attested and signed-off by all stakeholders. (Challenges)

The service was then activated into the operational environment by training help desk agents, L1, L2, L3 staff on their roles/responsibilities, service levels, knowledge records etc. (Initiatives)

These
steps were repeated on 26 more critical services over an 18 month period.
All measured services were dramatically improved and verified.

Let us help you create your Business Value.

In
conclusion, all service managers and process owners need to put on their CSI
Manager’s hat and create their own domino effect to accomplish their wildly
important goals.

Request
a free Value Canvas tool and consultation with our experts to overcome your
challenges and create business value.

David Smithis the president ofMicromation Inc.We help organizations increase
customer value through continual improvement of services and processes by
minimizing waste while maximizing yield.David is the author of “Implementing Metrics for IT Service Management”
ISBN: 9789087531140 and contributing co-author of "IT Service Management -
Global Best Practices" ISBN: 9789087531003.